


The North Star

by peristeronic



Category: 19th Century CE RPF, American Civil War RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Soulmates, Starcrossed Lovers, and yes they were soulmates, this is an actual historical event that actually happened
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-30
Updated: 2017-09-30
Packaged: 2019-01-07 02:15:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12223689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peristeronic/pseuds/peristeronic
Summary: From the prompt, "soulmate au where everyone has a compass that points to their soulmate."





	The North Star

For years the compass on Ned’s arm pointed resolutely west, the needle moving shifting only to the north- or southwest as he traveled from Baltimore to Boston to New York. He wondered if his soulmate lived in a log cabin in the middle of Missouri, or even a teepee in Indian country. As he sailed across the Atlantic and the Pacific, the stalwart needle pointed to the same spot, the north star that anchored his soul.

  
When he was twenty-five or twenty-six the compass became less predictable. When he played in New York, the needle pointed north-north-east every night. He travelled to Boston and then to Connecticut and Rhode Island on thin pretexts in hopes that his soulmate would be there. But nothing came of it.

  
That day when he stood on a station platform in Jersey City, he wasn’t watching the needle. In that fateful moment his vision narrowed until he saw nothing but the young man in front of him; the passage of time slowed to molasses, just long enough for his useless brain to grasp the essentials and just enough for him to reach out and grab a fistful of the young man’s collar. With all of his strength Ned yanked him back onto the platform. Time snapped back.

  
“Edwin Booth!” the man said. Flustered and jittery, but smiling, he stammered out both thanks and praise.

  
“I’m only grateful I was there in time, sir,” he said with a deprecating smile.

  
When the man’s eyes met his for a second, Ned realized with a jolt how handsome a man he had just saved. Averting his eyes, he took the liberty of setting his collar straight.

  
“Your compass,” the young man gasped.

  
Ned looked down at the inches of skin exposed when his sleeve was pushed back. The compass seemed to glow--something he had never seen before on his skin--and the arrow pointed directly to the young man. When he moved his arm just slightly, the arrow quickly adjusted to keep pointing straight at him.

  
The young man’s hand fixed on his wrist. “Perhaps we should talk in private?”


End file.
